TVSquad

It looks like David Tennant had no problem finding additional work now that his run on Doctor Who is ending. He has been signed to host Masterpiece Contemporary (the contemporary version of Masterpiece Theatre) on PBS. It's likely that for this role he will be returning to his native Scottish accent.

There is some mild irony at the fact that in the old days before cable TV, Doctor Who used to be shown ad infinitum on PBS and became the only place for American audiences to enjoy the show. There is even more irony at the fact that Masterpiece Contemporary will be more easily accessible to American audiences than Doctor Who.

Tennant seems a little young to host, but when I think of Masterpiece Theatre (and not it's modern versions), I keep thinking of those SNL sketches from the 70's with Dan Aykroyd as Leonard Pinth-Garnell. But that's probably more an issue with me.

Say you're a distinguished essayist, broadcaster, and the host of one of public television's most successful shows. You live to a ripe old age and pass away quietly. All things considered, it sounds like it was a pretty nice way to go, right? Well, apparently for Alistair Cooke's family, all hell started breaking loose right after the host of Masterpiece Theatre died in March of 2004. According to this New York Daily News article, Cooke's bones were surgically removed right before he was cremated and sold to two tissue processing compaines for transplanting purposes.

The most horrific part of this story is that Cooke died of bone cancer; the body-snatching ring's leader, Michael Mastromarino, actually doctored Cooke's medical records so that the bones would be bought by those processing companies. So, not only were Cooke's and other people's bodies stripped of their bones, but people are walking around with Cooke's 95-year-old, cancer-filled bones inside them. Yipes.